FRIESEN: No turtle derby at Players Cup

The second round of the Players Cup produced enough storylines even without a second and final appearance by Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor.

Let’s start with the round of the day, a Southwood course record 61 turned in by North Carolina product Will Gordon.

The 23-year-old Mackenzie Tour rookie actually flirted dangerously with a 59, and didn’t mind admitting he was thinking about it.

“Oh, yeah. You’ve got to,” Gordon said. “Once the one went in on 15 (an estimated 45-footer) I knew it was a possibility. Then I birdied 16 and 17.”

Gordon stood on the 18th tee at a sizzling 12-under par for the day, after making 13 birdies and one bogey. One last birdie and he’d hit the magic number golfers dream about.

“Once you get going in those moments it’s really enjoyable, and you feel like you can’t miss,” he said.

Alas, he did, driving his tee shot into the rough and coming up short on his approach to the 438-yard, par-4. So he needed to drain his chip for the 59.

He didn’t, missed a putt and settled for the 61, two strokes better than the record set at last year’s Players Cup.

“It’s still a great day, and obviously it gets me back in the golf tournament.”

After his first round he had his doubts.

A one-over-par 73 on Thursday had Gordon on the horn with his swing coach at 5:30 Friday morning.

“Dude I’m not hitting anything like I want to,” he told his coach. “And my putting, I can’t hit the hole.”

After getting some advice about just relaxing and having fun, he tossed his usual pre-round routine aside.

“I usually get up three and a half hours before my tee time,” he said. “I skipped stretching. I was like, ‘I need some sleep. I need to get rested.’ And it worked.”

Gordon is 10-under for the tournament and in a tie for fifth place, three shots behind leader Brad Miller of Baltimore.

Miller says his second-round 65 would have been at least one shot better if Gordon’s record score hadn’t caught his eye on a nearby leaderboard behind the ninth green.

“I’m a little upset that on the ninth hole I three putted for par because I was so flustered seeing a 12-under,” Miller said. “I thought there’s no way that’s right.”

Miller, 29, has been at this a while longer than Gordon.

But he’s had a tough year, his best finish this season a tie for 15th.

He has a fascinating family story, though.

Miller’s great-great grandfather on his mother’s side was Jack Dunn, who discovered baseball great Babe Ruth in a school for troubled boys in Baltimore.

“So if you see any pictures of Babe Ruth signing his first contract, that’s my great-great grandfather,” Miller said. “We have a lot of stuff in my basement. We actually gave a lot of it to Cooperstown and the Baltimore Sports Museum. Pretty cool history.”

Miller was actually named after Dunn. His full name is Jack Bradley Dunn Miller.

His grandfather, Jack Dunn III, is in the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame for his front-office role in the history of that franchise.

Back to the leaderboard, where two players hold second place at 12-under: Riley Wheeldon of Richmond, B.C., and first-round Derek Chang, both one shot off the lead.

No Manitobans made the cut, but Selkirk product Travis Fredborg (72-74) says he took home a valuable lesson from his first tournament as a pro.

The holes-in-one were by Daniel Stringfellow of Illinois (11-under through 36) and Texan Wesley McClain, who missed the cut.

As for the turtle, it was doing what turtles do, which wasn’t much of anything, even if some volunteers heard concerns about its presence.

Southwood posted a photo of the creature on its Twitter account, but it was quickly overshadowed by what Gordon, Miller and the rest were doing.

This is anything but a turtle race going into the weekend.

pfriesen@postmedia.com

Twitter: @friesensunmedia

Connor has a blast, despite his score

Kyle Connor got his nerves under control and shot a 90 in his second round at the Players Cup, Friday.

The Winnipeg Jets forward, playing under a sponsors’ exemption, had opened with a 94 on Thursday and finishes at 40-over par, officially in last place but with a big smile on his face.

“It was a lot of fun,” Connor said. “I hit some good shots, some bad ones. Some tough holes. But rolled a birdie out there on one of the holes, so that was nice. The best part is just being able to watch these guys play, and at the range. It was pretty special to watch.”

Like Jets teammate Mark Scheifele a year ago, Connor says the nerves were like nothing he deals with playing in the NHL.

“(Thursday) throughout the whole round it was pretty tough,” he said. “Just kind of the whole atmosphere. Nothing really like it. You can’t really replicate it anywhere. I felt comfortable out there (Friday), though.”

Scheifele shot 87-86 in his appearance, so has the bragging rights for now.

“I’m sure he would,” Connor said.

The 22-year-old, a restricted free agent looking for a new deal with the Jets, was paired with local player Travis Fredborg (two-over in 36 holes) and American Dalen Yamauchi (1-under), who Monday qualified for the event.

The three went out for dinner after their first round on Thursday.

“It was a great group. Two great guys,” Connor said. “Phenomenal players, too. They don’t miss much.”

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